Day 1: Arrival In Arusha

Day 2: Lake Manyara National Park

Depart Arusha this morning with your professional naturalist guide on the two and a half hour drive to the Lake Manyara National Park. This park is situated in the Great Rift Valley and encompasses many habitats including ground water forest, acacia woodlands, bushy areas and a soda lake. Look for shy dik dik in the woodlands, pink flamingoes on the lake, see one of the many elephant families, and watch the antics of the resident baboons. Continue on to the Ngorongoro Highlands where we visit Daniel, a member of the Irawq tribe. The Irawq are an agricultural people who settled the land around Ngorongoro hundreds of years ago. The roots of their language are tied to tribes in Northern Kenya and Ethiopia, and with Daniel we’ll learn about how the traditional Irawq houses were built partially underground so that people and cattle could sleep in the same place, allowing the men to protect the cattle from raiding Maasai. Overnight at the picturesque Lake Manyara Serena with stunning views out over the rift valley.

Day 3: Ngorongoro Crater

Depart this morning to enter the Ngorongoro crater rim and descend into one of the most spectacular game haunts in Africa. Wildlife is abundant and can be found throughout the year due to the permanent availability of grass and water. Nearly 100 square miles, it contains an impressive variety of wildlife including black-maned lions, the highly endangered black rhino, herds of wildebeest, zebra, elephants, hippo and hyenas. Bird life is also prolific, with flocks of flamingoes on the soda lake, plus other species of water and plains birds. Overnight with views into the crater rim from the Ngorongoro Sopa Lodge.

Day 4: Crater Hiking & Serengeti

Choose this morning to go on trek with your guide in the impressive and remote Olmoti Crater, visiting with local Maasai people who graze their cattle in these expansive highlands, or opt for another game drive in the Ngorongoro Crater. Continue on through the Ngorongoro Highlands and into to the great plains of the Serengeti*. En route enjoy a picnic lunch and a visit the Oldupai Gorge Museum, near where Mary and Louis Leakey found footprints of Australopithecus afarensis, an “early Hominid” which dated back to 3.6 million years ago. Time permitting, stop to visit Oledrop and his family. Oledrop is a local Maasai who will share with us stories of the Maasai while introducing us to his family in their communal home. Overnights at our Serengeti Mobile Camp, set up exclusively for our group in a location that maximizes wildlife movements.

*Approximately 6 hours driving with stops and game driving along the way, depending on the location of the mobile camp.

Days 5 - 6: Serengeti National Park

Enjoy two full days exploring the wilds of the Serengeti with you highly skilled wildlife guide. The Serengeti National Park is perhaps the most impressive wildlife sanctuary in the world. These vast, seemingly unending plains, are inhabited during the migration by enormous herds of wildebeest and zebra. The herds attract the attention of predators like lion, cheetah and hyena year round. Another interesting feature of the Serengeti is the massive granite kopjes, islands of rock standing in a sea of grass. The kopjes provide shelter to a great variety of plants and animals, from the elusive leopard to the tiny dik dik. These days’ activities are left up to the guide’s suggestion in order to take full advantage of the movements of the wildlife. Overnights at a Serengeti Mobile Camp.